Sept. 11, 2011

Final Stats

BERKELEY -

The California Golden Bears defeated their fourth ranked team of the season with a 3-1 victory over No. 19 Indiana at Maxwell Family Field. Junior forward Rachelle Comeau and sophomore midfielder Shannon Elmitt each scored a goal and had an assist for the Bears.

"My concern was whether we could put two solid performances together back-to-back," said head coach Shellie Onstead. "I thought we actually stepped our game up from Friday, so I am very encouraged."

Sophomore midfielder Shannon Elmitt got the Bears on the scoreboard just shy of seven minutes into the game. After a short corner, Erin Magill ended up with the ball in front of the net, passing to Elmitt who knocked it in to give Cal a 1-0 lead. Indiana tied the game 1-1 at the 18:44 mark after a Hoosier picked up a rebound of Cal goalie Maddie Hand's pads and knocked it in for a score.

Cal retook the lead less than four minutes later when junior forward Rachelle Comeau passed the ball to the right side of the field where sophomore forward Andrea Earle was waiting at the edge of the cage. With the goalkeeper on the left side, Earle poked the ball in on the right to give Cal a 2-1 advantage.

"Earle's goal was huge. She executed it perfectly. It was very clean. It really sent a message to both teams. And what it did for us was pump us up. We were stronger off it."

Comeau gave Cal an insurance goal in the second half, scoring on a penalty corner where the ball was slotted to Elmitt who passed it to Comeau who knocked it in for the score.

"It was nice to see us score two goals off short corners," Onstead said. "It is nice to have that weapon. We have been working on that pretty hard."

Earle's goal was her sixth of the season and her third this weekend. Comeau's goal was her second of the season while Elmitt scored her first of 2011.

"This was the first time we have a played a team that had our system," Onstead said. "It would good to see that we matched up and that we handled that well, as it makes it a little more complex. I am proud of the fact that our hockey IQ is getting better, too."

The victory puts Cal at 5-0 to start the season, the first time they have won five games in a row to start a season since 1982. Of those five victories, four have been wins over ranked teams. The fifth was the 10-0 victory in the NorPac opener at Pacific.

Cal will go back on the road next week, heading to Chicago to take on Northwestern and No. 7 Virginia and then onto Ohio to play Kent State.